A non-flammable composition is formulated to include ceramic powder, graphite, mica and ZrO.sub.2. The non-flammable composition is capable of being applied to an external surface of an item, or may be incorporated into the substrate material used to form an item prior to the item's manufacture. The non-flammable composition provides both fire-resistance and fire-retardant properties to the items that are treated thereby.

A cloud-based system network for managing the supply chain management operations associated with shipping clean fire inhibiting chemical (CFIC) totes from a chemical factory or warehouse to a network of lumber factories producing Class-A fire-protected lumber, and/or wood-framed building construction job sites with interior wood surfaces being spray-treated with Class-A fire protection during the construction phase. The system network includes a data center with web, application and database servers for supporting one or more mobile applications running on mobile computing devices (e.g. smart-phones and tablet computers). The mobile applications were configured for (i) scanning barcode symbols and/or RFID-tags on CFIC totes, measuring the weight of such CFIC totes at the chemical factory and/or warehouse, capturing GPS coordinates of the CFIC totes and recording such data within the centralized supply chain management database, and also for (ii) scanning barcode symbols and/or RFID-tags on CFIC totes at the destination factory, warehouse and/or construction job site, measuring the weight of such CFIC totes, detecting GPS coordinates, comparing recorded weights, and enabling automated inventory replenishment.

A method of and system for producing Class-A fire-protected truss structures constructed from: a plurality of lumber pieces dip-coated with clean fire inhibiting chemical (CFIC) liquid to form a plurality of Class-A fire-protected lumber pieces; and a set of heat-resistant chemical-coated metal truss connector plates for connecting together the plurality of Class-A fire-protected lumber pieces to form a Class-A fire-protected truss structure. The improved Class-A fire-protected truss structures can be used in constructing safer roofing and/or flooring systems in wood-framed buildings, having improved fire performance characteristics.

An automated lumber fabrication factory supporting an automated process for continuously fabricating cross-laminated timber (CLT) products that are automatically dip-coated in a reservoir of clean fire inhibiting chemical (CFIC) liquid, so as to produce Class-A fire-protected CLT products in a highly automated matter.

In a lumber factory, an automated laminated veneer lumber (LVL) process supported by a lumber production line employing a cross-cutting and rip-sawing stage, a dip-coating stage, a spray-coating stage, a print-marking stage, and a stacking, packaging and wrapping stage. At the dip-coating stage, cross-cut and rip-sawed LVL product is automatically transported and submerged through a dipping reservoir containing clean fire inhibiting chemical (CFIC) liquid, and then wet-stacked and set aside to dry. Once dried, the dip-coated LVL products are returned to the production line and sprayed coated with a moisture, fire and UV protective coating at the spray-coating stage, and then passed through a drying tunnel for quick drying of the spray-coating to produce Class-A fire-protected LVL products. The Class-A fire-protected LVL products are stacked, packaged and wrapped at the stacking, packaging and wrapping stage into a package of Class-A fire-protected LVL products, ready for shipping.

A method of producing packaged bundles of Class-A fire-protected lumber for use in wood-framed building construction. The method involved maintaining a dipping tank in a lumber factory, containing a water-based clean fire inhibiting chemical (CFPC) liquid at a depth sufficient to cover pieces of raw lumber while being treated during dip-coating operations. Untreated lumber pieces are submerged into the dipping tank, piece by piece, in an automated manner to coat all surfaces of the lumber pieces in CFIC liquid, and then removed from the dipping tank to produce pieces of Class-A fire-protected lumber having a CFIC liquid coating. The Class-A fire-protected lumber pieces are automatically wet stacked, packaged and wrapped into a packaged bundle, and allowed to dry.

A method of and system for producing Class-A fire-protected oriented strand board (OSB) sheets. Each Class-A fire-protected OSB sheet has: a core medium layer made of wood pump, binder and/or adhesive materials; a pair of OSB layers bonded to the core medium layer; a clean fire inhibiting chemical (CFIC) coating on the surface of each OSB layer, made from CFIC liquid applied to the surface by dipping the OSB sheet into the CFIC liquid in a dipping tank, allowing shallow surface absorption into the OSB layers and ends of the core medium layer at atmospheric pressure; and a moisture, fire and UV protection coating spray coated over the the CFIC coating to provide protection against moisture, fire and UV radiation from Sunlight, which is quickly dried by passing through a drying tunnel on the production line.

A method of and system for producing wood-framed buildings having Class-A fire-protection and defense against total fire destruction during the construction phase, and certifying and documenting the same. The system includes a reservoir for containing a supply of clean fire inhibiting liquid chemical (CFIC) liquid for spray application over over the interior surfaces of raw and treated lumber and sheathing used in a completed section of a wood-framed assemblies in a wood-framed building during its construction phase; a liquid spray pumping subsystem operably connected to the reservoir tank containing the supply of CFIC liquid. A hand-held liquid spray gun, operably connected to the liquid spray pumping subsystem, is used to for spray CFIC liquid from the reservoir tank onto the exposed interior wood surfaces of lumber and sheathing used to construct each completed section of the wood-framed building, to form a CFIC coating on the treated interior wood surfaces providing Class-A fire-protection to the completed section of the wood-framed building.

Prefabricated Class-A fire-protected mass timber building components are first sprayed or curtain-coated with clean fire inhibiting chemical (CFIC) liquid, in an automated prefabricated wood building factory environment, to provide Class-A fire-protection under the ASTM 84E test standard. Thereafter, the prefabricated Class-A fire-protected mass timber building components are sprayed or coated again with a different chemical liquid so as to provide added UV-light, moisture and termite protection to the Class-A fire-protected CLT building components. Preferably, a multi-axis robotic spray system is used for spraying CFIC liquid over all of the surfaces of the prefabricated mass timber. Machine vision systems can be used to collect video data of the spraying operations, analyzing the collected video data against preconstructed reference models, and providing guidance as required to achieve predetermined standards of quality control (QC) along the production line.

A cloud-based system network for verifying and documenting prefabricating Class-A fire-protected wood-framed buildings produced from a prefabricated Class-A fire-protected wood-framed building factory system supporting multiple production lines for producing Class-A fire-protected wood-framed components including wall panels, floor panels, stair panels, floor trusses, and roof trusses for use in constructing custom and pre-specified prefabricated Class-A fire-protected wood-framed buildings. The system network includes (i) a data center with web, application and database servers for supporting a web-based site for hosting digital images of barcoded/RFID-tagged certificates attached to prefabricated Class-A fire-protected wood-framed building components, and other certification documents, and (ii) mobile smart-phones used to capture digital photographs and video recordings of Class-A fire-protected wood-framed building sections, and upload the captured digital images to the data center, for each prefabricated wood-framed building project, so that building purchasers, insurance companies, builders, architects and other stakeholders can review such certifications and documentations during the prefabrication of wood-framed buildings from the factory system.